CiM: Messy Color™ Adamantium, An opaque warm dark grey.

Messy Color™ Adamantium

511874 -

An opaque warm dark grey.

Click here to view Adamantium Uniques

"It seems to get darker, the longer it is worked." Read more at DragonJools blog. – Dwyn Tomlinson

Click here for other interesting Adamantium discoveries.

Sue Stewart

Adamantium, Lauscha cocoa, and Effetre dark ivory

Maija-Leena Autio

Joy Munshower

Yulia Trubitsyna

Kari Chittenden

Butter Pecan with leopard spots in Adamantium and Hades, encased in Clear. Spacers are Tuxedo and Cobblestone.

Laura Sparling

CiM Tester Feedback

Adamantium is unique to the 104 lampworking color palette.

"A great cocoa brown, I love it, and so glad to have this color in the palette." – Elasia

"A warm dark gray with brown undertones, when encased a beautiful brown gray lighter tone is present. Lightens greatly under encasement." – Starleen Colon

"In my humble opinion, it’s too dark of a brown for my use. Now that we have Mink, I’m quite content." – Sue Stewart

"I love this color; it's a superior warm grey to the Italian greys." – Renee Wiggins

"Adamantium was darker than I expected. It’s the color of dark chocolate with a gray tinge. It’s almost black, so it needs to be balanced against other colors to bring out the brown." – Jennifer Borek

"I made a test bead with Adamantium and Effetre Dk Gray Pastel and found the Adamantium to be much darker with some brown properties to it. It is a shade that is very interesting. When etched it almost has a green hue to it." – Jan Whitesel-Keeton

Testers agreed that, though they might look similar at first glance, Adamantium is significantly different from Lauscha cocoa.

"I don’t think Adamantium compares to Lauscha cocoa, it is way too grey and not brown enough. I don't even feel I could call it a brown. It is a nice colour in itself, but can't be compared to Lauscha cocoa." – Claire Morris

"I thought cocoa was a bit deeper, but neither thrills me. Still waiting for that perfect deep cocoa Hershey milk chocolate glass. To me, neither of them fit the bill." – Donna Dorman

"It’s more brown than grey-brown like Lauscha can be . . . Love it." – Elasia

"Adamantium is darker than Lauscha cocoa, which is a plus." – Starleen Colon

"Adamantium melts beautifully, sis spread nicely but didn’t on the Lauscha. Colors are close before going in the kiln." – Pat O'Brien

"Adamantium is not exactly the same shade. Just a tiny bit off. I think this will be a lovely addition for all of us who don’t buy much Lauscha. I have not seen Adamantium react in any way [yet]." – Marcy Lamberson

"Lauscha cocoa is darker and a bit warmer colour, Adamantium is a bit grayer. The difference is not big though. Cocoa is a bit streakier. They react differently with ivory; Adamantium bled more and Cocoa had a more ragged borderline with ivory." – Maija-Leena Autio

"Adamantium is a slightly lighter, greyer color that I like better than Cocoa, which I find to be a little too dark/dense." – Lori Bergmann

"They are virtually identical in coloration, but I find Adamantium easier to work with. Lauscha is generally sold in larger diameter rods, and I have a hard time melting them without large chunks flying around. I also prefer Adamantium because it stays stiffer when melted. Adamantium looks sort of like 'dark chocolate' to me." – Kathy Coon

"I have loved Cocoa and use it frequently, but have always wished it were a darker brown. Well, Adamantium fits the bill. It is a great dark brown that isn’t similar to Cocoa at all. I used it in several beads for decoration, and in some places it almost appears to be black, which was not what I was looking for. Also, when using Cocoa and melting it into a base bead you can pretty much plan on it getting whispy edges and melting into the surrounding glass. This is a beautiful effect, if that is what you want. Adamantium doesn’t even think about making anything but a nice crisp brown dot. There isn’t anything else available in soft glass that fills this niche. Many lampworkers have been begging for a dark brown that doesn’t have a red or grey tone to it. Adamantium really looks like the answer for a dark brown." – Gail Witt

"Adamantium is denser and on the grey side. Lauscha cocoa is warmer and spreads to give a painterly effect which I love." – Leslie Anne Bitgood

Testers report that Adamantium makes a good base for silver/reactive glasses.

"Adamantium serves as a lovely backdrop for silver inclusions as a darker line appears where silver is applied." – Starleen Colon

"Raku is very pretty on this color." – Jan Whitesel-Keeton

"I must say that Adamantium looks great as a base for the silver glasses, i.e. Double Helix." – Chris Haussler

Special thanks to Genea Crivello-Knable, Elasia, Leslie Anne Bitgood, Pat O'Brien, Teri Wathan, & Sue Stewart for providing the photos in this section.

Serena Thomas’s Adamantium discs were photographed successfully by a six year old.

Darlene Collette used Adamantium as a base for Aurae.

See how Darlene Collette created opalescent portals with Sangre & Aurae on top of Adamantium.

Join Trudi Doherty's FB group Lampwork Colour Resource Sharing Information for a catalogue of color study.
Claudia Eidenbenz’s "Vetrothek" (glass library) is a great resource for color comparisons.
See Kay Powell’s frit testing samples.
Browse Serena Thomas’ color gallery.
Check out Miriam Steger’s CiM color charts.
Consult Jolene Wolfe's glass testing resource page.

"This set used Adamantium with Double Helix Helios handmade shards. When reduced, lots of blue was revealed in the shards which is a beautiful contrast to the grey base glass." See more at Darlene's blog.

– Darlene Collette

"Admantium, a deep grey - but a warm grey - with a hint of brown, rather than a cold, blue grey." Read more at DragonJools blog.

– Dwyn Tomlinson

"It seems to get darker, the longer it is worked." Read more at DragonJools blog.

– Dwyn Tomlinson

"Adamantium is the ideal brown if you're looking for a cocoa color. Think rich chocolate. Not at all red-toned like some of the other browns in the 104 palette. I deeply encased Adamantium and added some silver foil." Read more at Melissa's blog.

– Melissa Villadiego

"These BHBs are Adamantium with Dirty Martini and Mermaid dots. They spread so I didn’t get crisp edges on these." See more on Heather's blog.

– Heather Kelly

"Adamantium with Z095 yellow olive - OMG I think I am in love! I adore how the silver has reacted with the Adamantium to form an organic earthy looking crust. The look of these beads conjures images of ancient arid landscapes pooled with swamps and marshes." Read more at Kitzbitz Art Glass' blog.

– Jolene Wolfe

Adamantium dots on Effetre white. See more at Darlene's blog.

– Darlene Collette

"Adamantium's swirls are awesome for birds!"

– Lauren Bramble

"Starting with a base of Adamantium, a warm grey brown opaque glass, Double Helix silver infused murrini were placed on both back and front of each flat tab bead. Double Helix Triton was added to create the dotted pattern on each bead and reduced to bring the shine to the surface." Featured in the November 2010 issue of Bead Trends. Read more at Darlene's blog.

– Darlene Collette

"Adamantium remains one of my favorite colors of the season so far. I am loving gray even more than brown this year - and this dark charcoal is just lovely for fall and winter. I paired it with pink last week, and it turned out so pretty." Read more Kandice's blog.

– Kandice Seeber

Adamantium with Kandinsky blue-green & silvered Lichen reduced.

– Carol Oliver

“It's a slightly striking color, and can striate some when not encased. It's still pretty dense - not much washing out under transparent glass, and layers very nicely. I didn't have any trouble with it spreading or bleeding - which surprises me a little bit. This color is somewhat close to Effetre's original Sage [Sage is lighter than Adamantium, and has a tinge more green], which bleeds quite a lot [especially in stripes!]. So I expected this color to bleed as well. I was so happy it didn't!” Read more at Kandice’s blog.

– Kandice Seeber

"I made one Adamantium bead in oxidation with Effetre White and Phoenix. Here the Adamantium is a deep glossy Payne's Gray in color! I don't think anyone else has this color. Most other attempts at a Payne's Gray seem to have more chocolate/brown tones rather than blue/gray/black that I love. When I think of the name Adamantium, I picture a bright shiny silver gray, and not this glorious dark carbide steel color. I love this glass!"

– Bonnie Polinski

"I tested Adamantium in reduction rolled in silver leaf with Ivory. Adamantium turned this wonderful asphalt color and reacted stunningly with the silver. The Adamantium is beautiful, it picks up so many colors with silver foil; yellow ochre, tans, greens, and blues."

– Bonnie Polinski

"Adamantium makes a great horse - black is too hard to see the details after - this color works out much better. The bottom pony has a Metallic Black or Dark Silver Plum mane - the other two have intense black manes." Read more at DragonJools blog.

– Dwyn Tomlinson

"Adamantium is my new very favourite glass for making the ends of my organic bicones. I'm sure it has other uses, but I've been looking for an alternative to black, which always looks too stark. The colour of Adamantium is just slightly softer, and fabulously complements the silvered Ivory stringer I can't seem to stop using." Read more at Melanie's blog.

– Melanie Graham

"Adamantium is the missing super rich dark brown which is another color that just hasn’t been available from Italy and is another super addition to the beadmakers color palette." Read more at the Frantz Art Glass blog.

– Patricia Frantz